Aging Iowa needs an elder abuse law on the books

7:41 PM,
Sep. 5, 2013

Written by

Tracey Robertson
Guest Opinion

Iowa's older adult population is growing and some of the greatest risks they currently face are elder abuse, neglect and exploitation at a time when they should be enjoying their wonder years. It's estimated that for every one elder abuse case that's reported, 23 cases go unreported. It has been proven elder abuse can dramatically shorten the life of the older victim.

The following three cases are examples of how some older adults fell through the cracks in Iowa's broken system:

? A woman was legally blind, frail, and lived with her male partner (age 67) of 20 years who was also blind. He had ...